In 1989, lawmakers became extremely concerned with the dramatic increase in drunken driving, thus banned happy hour in several states including Illinois. Only in relatively recent news has the legislation been uplifted. The lawmakers followed a lead spearheaded by DuPage County, which concluded that the most optimal solution towards remedying binge drinking and drunken driving was to ban happy hour. In the years prior to the establishment of the law making happy hour illegal, it was recorded that alcohol-related crashes made up almost 50 percent of all fatal crashes in the state of Illinois. In 2012, it was 41 percent. In this literature, the opinions of several people are voiced from both ends of the spectrum in the matter at hand. The following …show more content…
Audrey Saunders, the owner, preached “… In general, offering food and water and frequent check-in’s with one’s patrons is not just a good preventative—at the core, it’s simply responsible hospitality…It’s a bit narrowminded to think that a happy hour ban is going to drastically reduce problems” (Saunders 2-3). Saunders provided a weak stance in the matter presented of financial benefits to happy hour listing a raise in dollars from minimum wage to $15 an hour when happy hour would ensue. This statistic was paired along with other aspects of Logos, expressed an argument against the ban of happy hour. Saunders lifted an unrealistic solution to the matter of concern of drunken driving speaking to how as a bar owner, checking on the patrons as well as taking care of them is simply “responsible hospitality”. Saunders gives this solution as a possible replacement to the ban, having certified bartenders legally responsible and trained to judge customers who are too intoxicated to operate machinery. Overall, Saunders presented an argument in opposition to banning happy hour due to financial gains, however, it was not backed with strong enough evidence or statistic to convince me of her …show more content…
Jacobs utilized firm Pathos through personal accounts recanted by his friends and community experiences with happy hour “…a friend told me of the tragic death of her close friend, a freshman at Eastern Illinois University, who was on her way home when the car she was riding in was hit by a driver who had just left a happy hour” (Jacobs 3). In this quote, Jacobs’ gives an astounding story that essentially implores his readers to reevaluate the value of lives. Jacobs’ argument lends itself nicely to Logos aspects as well due to the obvious fact that death for the most part is undesirable, especially tragic ones that involve the lack of responsibility of others. Jacobs’ attempted to convince his audience to not trade lives for revenue even if reinstating happy hour would “let Chicago compete with other cities for tourist dollars”(Jacobs 4). Ultimately, it is evident through the major use of Pathos, and logic, Jacobs’ argument leaves a strong, lasting impression on its
It really is no secret that if the minimum legal drinking age were lowered, a large number of teens would then drink for perhaps the first time. “The age group with the most drivers involved in fatal crashes with Blood Alcohol Content levels of .08 or higher during 2011 was the twenty-one to twenty-four-year-olds” (“National Highway Traffic Facts”). Young adults are just as irresponsible at eighteen as they are at twenty-one, maybe even more irresponsible. The teenagers will indulge themselves on what they feel is a luxury the first chance they get. The young adults abuse the alcohol, and then go driving because even at twenty-one through twenty-four they are still not as responsible. If the age is lowered to eighteen, many eighteen-year-olds will go out and drink alcohol for the first time. The age group may rise to number one in fatal crashes. The National Highway Traff...
Each year, about 5,000 teens are killed or injured in traffic crashes as a result of underage drinking and about 1,900 are due to car accidents. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation) In the newsletter, safety in numbers by National highway traffic administration and U.S department of transportation “Of all the people who died in motor vehicle crashes during 2012, 31 percent died in crashes involving a drunk driver, and this percentage remains unchanged for the past 10 years” (Vol 1, 2013). Crashes involving alcohol include fatal crashes in which a driver had a BAC of .01 g/ ld. or higher (Underage Drinking Statistics)). Deadly crashes involving alcohol are twice as common in teens compared to people 21 and older. This is because teens’ judgment skills are harmed more by alcohol. Teens who drink not only risk hurting themselves, they risk hurting their friends, family, and even strangers when driving intoxicated. Teens and parents both need a strong reminder that underage drinking is illegal and can have disastrous consequences. According to Health Day News, “one study found that in 2011, 36 percent of U.S. college students said they'd gone binge drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting) within the past two weeks, as compared to 43 percent of college students in 1988. Since 2006, the current law has reduced the rate of drunk driving crashes among young Americans” (Preidt, 2014 and DeJong, 2014). This proves that lives have been saved after the legal drinking age increased. According to an article in Time Magazine called “Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered?”, “lowering the drinking age to 18 would stop infantilizing college students, but it would probably kill mor...
The Legal Minimum Drinking Age and Fatal Motor Vehicle Crashes Allan F. Williams, Robert F. Rich, Paul L. Zador and Leon S. Robertson The Journal of Legal Studies , Vol. 4, No. 1 (Jan., 1975), pp. 219-239
Alcohol consumption has been a salient, controversial issue in America, since colonization. In the 1800s and early 1900s, the issue of morality drove opponents of alcohol consumption, leading to Prohibition. Today, however, debate centers on the misuse of alcohol and automobile accidents. In 1984, The National Minimum Drinking Age Act was adopted. Although enacted with worthy intention, increasing the legal drinking age to twenty one has, subsequently, led to many negative issues in society.
DUIs have blindly taken lives of citizens, and the punishment for this crime does not meet its destruction. In Mississippi, the first offense of a DUI carries only a ninety-day license suspension. Drunk drivers kill people every year. If DUI punishment became stricter, and careless drunk drivers paid the full consequence of their wrongdoing, the number of people killed by drunk drivers would decrease. Some argue that if the government strengthened DUI laws, it would have an economically negative effect on a city’s social drinking aspect; however, DUI laws would have a direct effect on repeated offenders and drinkers who disregard the law.
The ongoing debate is the perceived unfairness in the minimum legal drinking age act in the United States to 21 that many believe as unnecessarily high. The rationale of this law, enacted in 1984, was to reduce the number of alcohol related road accidents among young adolescent, but apart from this, evidence show that increasing the age of alcohol consumption only created a forbidden fruit appeal.
According to Andrew Herman, “Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders” (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice as fast as adults and are more likely to participate in “binge-drinking” (Sullivan 473). The problem is evident, but the solution may be simple. Although opponents argue lowering the drinking age could make alcohol available to some teens not mature enough to handle it, lowering the drinking age actually teaches responsibility and safety in young adults, maintains consistency in age laws, and diminishes temptation.
In 1984 the national government raised the drinking age from eighteen to twenty-one with the intention of lowering the number of deaths that resulted from drunk driving. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act enforced this change by informing states that if they did not comply they would face a reduction in highway funds under the Federal Aid Act. Upon the ratification of the law the number of traffic fatalities among 18 to 20 year olds dropped thirteen percent. If the minimum legal drinking age were to be changed for eighteen year olds the United States could see a significant n...
Underaged drinking has become an epidemic within the United States. Starting to consume alcohol at a young age damages the brains developmental process and also leaves behind long term drinking problems for that individual. According to the case file between Heisenberg vs. the State of Missouri, the national average underaged drinking begins at fifteen years of age. Curiosity allows students under the age of twenty-one to want to experiment with toxins like alcohol. These dangerous decision then create the unsafe action to drink and drive. The government should create laws that not only reinforce the existing laws but also alter them, so than young adults are restricted. The legal drinking age of twenty-one should be increased to twenty-five because underaged drinking causes a delay in brain development, it would decrease a young adults curiosity to perform dangerous behaviors and it is also the main cause for car crashes.
Driving under influence or with high blood alcohol content (BAC) increases the risk of car accidents, vehicular deaths, and more so highway injuries across all age-groups. In fact, an intoxicated driver with relatively higher BAC increases his/her risk of death by up to 380 times in single-vehicle crash (DeMichele, Lowe & Payne, 2014). Drunk driving is often considered as the largest social problem in the modern day society since 40 to 45% of all fatal traffic accidents usually involve drunk drivers. While 16 is the average blood alcohol content among some seriously injured drinking drivers, the culture of driving under influence can only be stopped through the development of a plausible plan to prevent it (Sloan, Eldred & Xu, 2014).
Drunk driving accidents are the number one killer of adolescents (Teenagers and peer pressures. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from). Mixing drinking while driving can be deadly. Teenage drunk driving accidents not only affect the person drinking while driving, but it also can kill or harm others (Alcohol problems and solutions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from) (Teen drinking and driving. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from) . Every single accident provoked by drinking and driving could have been prevented. If underage drinking is illegal, why do young people do it ? Teenagers usually are influenced by their elders (Alcohol problems and solutions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from). In the United States, one out of ten 12 through 14 year olds have tried alcohol and continue to do so on a regular basis . There is a more than fifty percent of probability that young adults that have tried alcohol at a younger age may become alcoholics in the near future (Alcohol fatalities. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from). So, why do teenagers take so many risks with their health and behind the wheel? The answer is simple teen drivers tend to think they are invincible and more needs to be done to educate teens on the dangers of drinking and driving.
The growing awareness of alcohol hazards has made people more cautious of their drinking habits, particularly young adults. At present young adults have the highest prevalence of alcohol consumption than any other age group. They also drink more heavily, experience more negative consequences, and engage in more harmful activities, specifically drunk driving. Although surveys have documented a decline in recent years, consumption rates remain highest from late teen years to the late twenties (Johnston1-3). Despite the long-term decline since 1982 in alcohol related traffic deaths, a 4 percent increase occurred between 1994 and 1995 among young adults age 21 and over (Hingson 4). As alcohol-impaired driving persists, legal and community initiatives intervene to help reduce the problem, as well as, continuing research on possible solutions.
Binge drinking have caused safety risks in motor vehicle crashes, drunk-driving arrests, sexual assaults, and injuries as National Institute on Alcohol Abuse And Alcoholism presents it. In addition, Dr. Iconis (2014) states that students who are under the influence of alcohol are most likely to be arrested by policies that a student does not binge drink or does not drink at all. College students who binge drink are usually unable to control their own actions in just a few hours and can cause a lot of problems for themselves and to their peers. Considering these students can’t even control their own actions, how could they be expected to drive home safely? The answer is simple; many of them don’t. Furthermore, many students are either caught for DUI (drunk driving) or they get into car accidents. These accidents can cause many different injuries or even death. So, it is not only dangerous for the person who binge drink but also for the society and the people around
As a result of underage drinking, 5,000 adolescents under the age of 21 die annually due to intoxication (taking motor vehicle crashes, homicides, suicides, and other injuries while intoxicated into consideration) (paragraph 2). Later in life, underage drinkers are more likely to develop alcoholism, poor performance in school, and risky sexual behavior (paragraph 43). Although this research is not opposed to my argument, there is an importance to acknowledging it as proof of dangerous, underage drinking occurring significantly regardless of whether it is illegal. More importantly, this research stems from adolescents drinking without the supervision of adults and in uncontrolled quantities. Since adolescents must wait a long period of time to drink legally, I believe they fear they must take advantage of drinking opportunities by excess drinking and risk of safety due to their restriction to alcohol. Based on this mindset, I believe exposure to alcohol at a younger age in controlled environments would not only decrease underage drinking in large quantities, but injury and death related to intoxication, as
The consumption of alcohol during social events is prevalent in society. When a group of adults have a party or get together there is almost always alcohol present such as at the bowling alley, where they sell multiple bottles of beer in a bucket. Adults tend to invite their other adult friends to a football game party and they drink too much, and due to the adverse effect of alcohol consumption, drunk driving takes a life in the United States every twenty-two minutes. In Christian’s to Recovery, : “The damage caused by alcohol impaired drivers is the same as if a Boeing 747 with over 500 passengers crashed every eight days killing everyone,” (CR, “Impacts”) Children know just how much their parents or parent drinks, and for that very reason alcohol shoul...